Family Love
by A11y50n
Summary: Catherine and Danny talk about the aftermath of Steve's rescue from Korea and Grace's kidnapping.


A/N: I don't own the characters. Sorry for any mistakes.

FAMILY LOVE

She was so afraid that she was going to lose him. She was grateful that he was in bed with her. She saw him fall off the building in slow motion. All the other times he was injured was nothing compared to this. He was kept in the hospital overnight and then released. She waited for Steve to fall asleep, once she was sure she placed a kiss on his chest just above his heart and whispered 'I love you'. She placed her head there so she could hear the beat of his heart to confirm that he was still living. Only when she heard the strong beat of his heart did she allow herself to sleep.

The next morning in the shower she couldn't help but cry. The thought of losing Steve was horrifying she didn't know what she would do if that ever happened. She stayed longer than three minutes in the shower thankfully Steve was already awake and in the kitchen probably cooking breakfast. She didn't want him to see her tears. She would never burden him with her fears after all she fell for him when he was a SEAL that was a dangerous job but now it seemed worse somehow.

That night they spooned together, her back was against Steve's chest and his right arm was high on her chest. She waited for his breathing to even out when she was sure he was asleep she kissed his arm and whispered 'I love you' and settled to dream. They never said the words to each other. For her she knew Steve cared for her, he didn't need to say any words to her his actions spoke louder than any words could. She didn't think that he knew how she felt about him though. She was always afraid of saying anything in case she scared him off. She knew from their first time together that he was special. She wanted him and if that meant just one night then so be it. One night turned into two and two months and months turned into years. Granted they had long periods apart but that was because of their jobs not for any other reason. She wanted him on any terms as long as they were both on the same page. He never used her, yes he asked for favours but that was work related and he always paid his debts.

This routine carried on for nearly a week. She didn't realise that he wasn't quite asleep one night when she said those special words and drifted off to sleep. He looked at her more closely the next morning as if trying to see something. She didn't realise that her eyes were slightly red from the crying in the shower but Steve noticed. That night he used his training to fool her that he was asleep and he heard her and felt her kiss. Steve felt her drift away quite soon after the kiss. He stayed awake for the next few hours trying to work out what was going on with Cath. Granted they never said the words to each other as he thought they both knew how the other felt. The fact that she was whispering when she thought he was asleep suggested that she wanted to say the words but didn't want him to know. He's always known how she felt about him. There was something about her from the time they met and became friends and moved into something more. For him that first kiss told him all he wanted to know and he's amazed that she stuck with him all this time. He kissed her forehead and went to sleep.

The next night they stay up talking for ages facing each other in bed whilst lying down. Their bodies touching and Steve had an arm around her and was rubbing his hand in circles on her back and Cath just purrs at the touch. Eventually they both start to feel their eyes droop. Steve's arm is still around her. When she is sure he is asleep she reaches up without dislodging his arm and presses a quick kiss to his lips and whispers 'I love you'. She stiffens when Steve says hoarsely 'I love you more'. She buries her face in his chest. She refuses to look at him so he puts his hand below her chin and lifts her face up so he can see her expressive eyes. He sees tears in her eyes and they fall down her cheek. He wipes the tears from her cheek and kisses her forehead and this makes things worse and more tears follow. He pulls her to him and rolls onto his back so Cath is on top of him. He's hugging her and trying to comfort her eventually the sobs calm down. She doesn't look at him while she begins to talk.

"I keep on seeing you fall and I keep on thinking that this is a dream and that you're,…., you're, …., you're gone."

"Shh, shh it's not a dream I'm here. I'm holding you. You must be able to feel what you're doing to me right this second?"

Cath chuckled weakly

"I don't know why this time is worse. I know you've been injured before and much worse than a few bruises but I got really scared. I broke down in front of Danny. We were outside your hospital room while you were being checked again by the doctor. I just lost it and started crying, I didn't realise it was happening until I felt a couple of hands come around me and hold me tight. I must have sobbed for five minutes. His shirt was completely soaked but he just carried on as if nothing had happened. Do you know what he said? He told me

"If you have any feelings for me at all as a friend then you better stop crying because if SUPERSEAL comes out and sees you in tears then I'm a dead man, no one absolutely no one messes with _**his**_ Catherine."

"It was enough to make me chuckle."

She lifted a hand and caressed his cheek.

"I've always known how you feel about me but I didn't know if you knew how I felt about you. I wanted to make sure I told you just in case something happened."

"So you decided to tell me when I was asleep?" Steve asked with a chuckle

"Hey, I didn't say you had to hear me. We're not much into the words so ….."

"You're right, we're not about the words we're more about the actions" Steve said with a massive grin

She returned his grin and he rolled her onto her back where they began to show each other how they felt.

A couple of days later…..

"Hey Cath where's SUPERSEAL?" Danny asks as he enters the house

"He went for a run."

Cath filled another mug with coffee and added sugar just like Danny liked.

"Please tell me it's not his usual 100 miles in an hour?"

Danny asked as he nodded his thanks for the coffee

"He promised he wouldn't push himself too hard." Cath said

The look she received from Danny said all he needed to say about that.

"Danny, can you tell me what happened? I know it was ages ago but I wasn't here and I need to hear it from you as I know you'll give me the whole truth."

They looked at each other for a few seconds before Danny spoke.

"So, how is the SUPERSEAL teddy bear love of your life this wonderful morning?"

Cath had no idea where this was going but with Danny he always liked to go around the houses to make a point.

"SUPERSEAL teddy bear? Does he know you call him that?" Cath chuckled

"I'm still alive aren't I? What do you think?"

"Ok I'll bite, why is he a SUPERSEAL teddy bear?"

"Well for one he can't say no to my monkey!"

"Danny name one person just one who can say no to Grace."

"That's not the point but even you have to admit that they are smitten with each other and Grace doesn't even have to show him the puppy dog eyes anymore. He is wrapped around her little finger and she knows it."

"Ok but you've known for ages that Steve loves Grace that's nothing knew but the nickname is, so spill it."

"When we came back from Korea after we rescued him, he was really quiet understandably so, he was so withdrawn. He just used to sit outside and stare at the water. Don't get me wrong he talked to us but it was as if he wasn't with us. Eventually Grace couldn't be kept away any longer so I brought her one day, everyone else were here as well. Chin was manning the grill and Kono was fixing other things. Anyway as soon as we walk into the house, Grace heads upstairs, instead of outside where she knows her Uncle Steve is. A minute later she comes down with two pillows. She marches off to her Uncle. As she gets to his chair she places the pillows in his lap and takes off her sneakers and sits in his lap hoping the pillows will take some of her weight. I warned her before that he had a lot of bruises and was very sore. As she's sitting in his lap she's facing him. She takes his face gently in her hands and starts kissing each and every cut and bruise on his face. When she's finished she says clearly to him that

"I love you Uncle Steve, I'll always love you! We all love you!"

She then proceeds to get a book out of her bag and starts to read to him. She reads Hound of the Baskervilles seeing as he's got more patience now he's an adult. He's got her hooked on all the stories and when we stay over here he reads one to her. I swear that day he had a breakthrough and he came back to us slowly. By the end of the night after we ate, they were hugging each other and they were taking turns reading a page out aloud."

Cath wiped a stray tear away. Steve had told her what happened but it was more fact based. She loved Danny's version better.

"Cath describe Kono for me."

"Smart, strong, capable, kick ass. Why?"

"Did your teddy bear ever tell you our first meeting with Kono?"

"Er yeah, you met on the beach and the rest is history?"

"I have to say I am really glad that there are no female SEALS. I know you're thinking that I'm a sexist pig but I'm not. I'm all for self-preservation. I have a daughter I don't want a man _**any man**_ telling her that she can't do something just because she's a girl, that's why I'm glad she has you and Kono as positive role models, having said that I still stand by my female SEALS comment."

Danny could see that Cath was going to start on him so he held up a hand to stop her.

"What's worse than one SUPERSEAL? Two SUPERSEALS! That's right, you heard me. If there were female SEALS then Kono would definitely be one. Have you not noticed how alike your teddy bear and the rookie are? I swear her eyes glaze over at the latest guns. She's not above trying some hair brained scheme to get the guy. Can you imagine if she and your teddy bear were partners? I'm mean, there would not be an island left as between the two of them they would blow it up several times over. Those two together are SCARY. Yes we met on the beach. Chin took us to see someone that would be able to go undercover. He warned us that she was his cousin so we had to be careful what we said. I mean there was a very attractive young lady in a bikini, she's our baby sister now but at the time she was just Chin's cousin and if you tell her I called her our 'baby' sister I'll deny it until my dying day, she'd kick my ass for that, surfing then she was cut off by an idiot. Any way I'm pretty sure both I and your teddy bear were enjoying the view, then she was back on the sand and she walked right over to the idiot that cut her off and gave him a 'love tap'. I swear as soon as Steve saw the 'love tap' he had to have her on his team. There was no doubt about it, he wasn't seeing a young lady he was seeing the latest member of his task force. She was great undercover, I was amazed. She was a natural. Her hand to hand combat was good her shooting great, we couldn't believe that she hadn't graduated yet. We all took her under our wings. She's amazing. I mean she should be a SEAL but alas our glorious country does not want any. I swear Steve has written at least one letter to who it may concern about changing the policy of only male SEALS. Anyway, I digress, would you believe that Kono also has the 'power' to turn SUPERSEAL into a teddy bear?"

"Really? I've never seen her do it."

"Yeah well I think she realises that with great power comes great responsibility and doesn't abuse it. Just like you, you would never manipulate Steve and he knows it. It was a couple of weeks after your teddy bear came back fit for duty after the Korea incident that we had a case and as usual there was a chase. Kono was going to be shot even though she had her vest on then the next thing she knows she's pulled away from the shooter and is in front of Steve who is covering her making sure she doesn't get hit while me and Chin shoot the bad guy but not before he manages to get a few shots off a couple of which hit Steve in the back and another one which grazes his arm. Again, if you tell Kono this I will deny it, she scared both Chin and me. We got back to the office after Steve obviously refused treatment at the scene because he was 'fine'. Any way we got back to the office like I said and Kono walked straight into Steve's office and asked if she could speak to him. He had the first aid kit out and was trying to patch up him arm. Kono started to shout at him and poking him in the chest with a finger, let me tell you Steve hates that. I think he was too shocked, I mean this is Kono, she pokes him and he starts taking a step back for each poke until he hits the sofa and sits down. She's having a right go at him for pulling her out of the way. She asks him does he think she's useless that she needs protecting all the time? Is she a liability because if she is then she'll transfer to HPD. I think he was too shocked to say anything any way Kono goes on and on for five minutes, Chin and I are watching outside Steve's office, it's like a car crash, you know you shouldn't be looking but you can't help it. At some point Kono has grabbed the first aid kit and is fixing your teddy bear up. Her head is down but she isn't shouting anymore but Steve is just sitting there as if he's too frightened to move or say a word but he must have felt a tear on his hand as he jerked and realised that Kono was crying.

"When are you going to realise that you're not just our boss but you're OUR BROTHER and we love you, you need to let us love you. You don't have to protect us all the time."

I'm pretty sure Kono wasn't referring to just the case that day, it made Steve think and he cradled Kono to his shoulder and tried to comfort her. She buried her head in the crook of his neck and cried he rubbed his hand on her back to sooth her. I swear he was comforting her as he would Grace, I can't remember how long she cried for but it was a long time then it all went quiet and she fell asleep. Steve was stuck on his couch with Kono wrapped around him asleep. He looked to us two to help him but we; just being the concerned colleagues we are, just left him there with her because they both needed the rest, we were all having nightmares of what happened to Steve. When Steve saw we weren't going to help him he tried to move her but she wrapped her arms around him tighter. He had no choice but to sit there and he eventually fell asleep. They slept for a few hours like that. Chin went to wake them up when it was time for them to go. Kono kissed Steve on the cheek and told him

"We love you boss, remember that."

Steve kissed her forehead in response and Chin took Kono home while I took Steve.

The next day we all got a text at a ridiculously early time telling us to meet at HQ at 8 am. I was told to bring Grace with me. Grace and I were the last to get there. There were five chairs in a circle and a stranger was there with the rest of the team. Grace ran to everyone apart from the stranger and gave each of them a hug. Steve was waiting for us so he could explain everything in one go. He introduced us to the doc and explained that he thought we needed to talk about what happened to him. We all took our seats but Grace was left standing then she made her way to her favourite Uncle and climbed onto his lap. Steve held her tight as she got comfortable on his lap. She was facing Steve as he had to explain some things to her.

"Gracie, remember when I was in trouble and Danno and the rest of five-0 came to help me?"

Grace nodded.

"Well, it seems that we all have nightmares and I thought if we talk about it then maybe the nightmares will start to go away. That's why the doctor is here so he can help all of us. Now I know you didn't come and rescue me but you helped me out when I came back and I wanted you here just in case there was something you wanted to say. So is there anything you want to talk about?"

Grace turned around and faced the rest of the team and all she saw were faces that she trusted and she turned to face Steve again.

"When Danno came to say goodbye I knew there was something wrong. He came late at night. I was already in bed but something woke me up so I went downstairs. I stopped on the stairs and I heard Danno talking to mommy and Step Stan. I heard him say that you were in trouble and that he had to go and help him but it was dangerous and he wanted to say bye to me first. I knew it was bad because Mommy and step Stan were being really nice to Danno, I could tell they were worried as well. I saw mom hug Danno and I heard Danno say thank you to step Stan for always taking care of me and loving me as if I were his daughter and they shook hands. I saw Danno coming out of the living room and he saw me on the stairs. I was crying. I knew he would never leave if he could help it. He came to me and hugged me. He told me he was leaving and that he would try everything he could to get back to me. He was crying. He hugged me again. He told me that he loved me; that you loved me, Aunt Kono and Uncle Chin also loved me"

"Gracie I'm really sorry that you thought you were losing Danno."

"Uncle Steve its fine, I know you all love me. I also know that if Danno didn't try and help you he would have hated himself. He would never be the same again if he lost you. You're his brother. I'm glad he, Aunt Kono, Uncle Chin and Grandpa Joe went to get you. You're family and the sooner you remember that the sooner you let us love you Uncle Steve."

Grace then kissed Steve on his cheek and I don't care what anyone says but there was not one dry eye after my monkey had finished.

"Thanks Gracie and I'll try and remember that you all love me." Steve said and kissed Grace on the forehead.

"Gracie, why don't you go into Danno's office and read or listen to some music. The rest of the time we're going to be talking because we were actually there and you've helped us out by starting this off ok?"

"Ok Uncle Steve."

Grace got off of her Uncle's lap and we all watched as she went into my office then came out again with her backpack and went into Steve's office and relaxed in there. She does love her Uncle there's no doubt about that.

"The feelings mutual, Steve loves Grace anyone can see that. They're thick as thieves."

"Yeah I absolutely love the fact that they gang up on me."

Cath laughed at the sarcastic tone but she knows that he wouldn't have it any other way. He loved the fact that the two most important people in his life were so close even if they did play a lot of jokes on him.

"We each talked and said our own bits. Kono started then Chin, me then Steve was last. He told us what happened in detail, how he was tortured. The fact that he made his peace and he thought he was going to die. He spoke about the fact that he didn't have a chance to say goodbye to us especially you Cath. That was his biggest regret. The whole session took about an hour. The doc told us that we could schedule appointments whenever we wanted whether as a group or individually. I know Steve has been seeing him and he seems to be getting better. I saw the doc a couple of times and the cousins have seen him quite a bit.

"I'm so glad you were all there to help him. It killed me the fact that I couldn't be here for him. I tried to get some leave to be here but it wasn't granted. The only thing that got me through was the fact that you and the rest of five-0 were here for him including your gorgeous daughter. He's been through so much but at least he had his family here to help him through this. The first time I saw him after the incident I only had weekend leave and we had to spend half of it at the ball. I was so shocked to see him. He'd lost a lot of weight. I was scared until I heard you two arguing as usual. He had the same mischievous look in his eyes whenever he tries to goad you into a rant. I knew then that he was going to be fine. Then you caught that case. So I didn't get a lot of time to spend with him. He came to my hotel room and told me he was going to do his reserve training on the Enterprise, I was so happy even though we were not going to have that much time to ourselves. You know that us two are not much for PDAs but in the cab I just had to hold his hand. When we got onto the flight I let go because it was a military flight. We settled down and Steve took hold of my hand he didn't care who saw and he held it until we reached the Enterprise."

Cath and Danny were lost in their own thoughts about that time. Cath moved from the counter and came to sit opposite Danny and placed her hand over his.

"Danny I'm so sorry about what happened to Grace. Do you want to talk about it? Steve called me as soon as he arrived home that night. He sounded so bad like he was trying to keep everything in but was failing. I can't even imagine how you must have felt. Steve called me and we talked for ages. I really wanted to be here for you but I couldn't get any leave. I heard how scared Steve was even though Grace was fine by that time."

"Thanks Cath, it was the worst day of my life. I still can't believe it happened. Sometimes I have nightmares. When that happens, Steve wakes up in the morning to find me sleeping on his sofa. I feel safe here. There were a few times when I woke Stan and Rachel up in the middle of the night to check to see if Grace was ok. I had to go into her room just to make sure myself. There were times when Rachel had to bring Grace to see me as she was frightened for me. She still has the occasional nightmare. Strangely enough, when she's with us and we spend the weekend here she sleeps fine, in my pitiful excuse for an apartment she has no problems sleeping. It's when she wakes up and I'm not there when she panics and has to call. There were a couple of times when I had problems sleeping so I would crash here on the sofa and I forgot to charge my phone. Well Grace didn't let that stop her. When she tried my cell and I didn't answer she became worried and then she'd call her Uncle Steve. He would come downstairs and take a photo of me. I didn't realise until months later and that was just by chance. We had a bad case and I needed to see Grace but she was in school and it wasn't my day anyway. I left my cell in my office so I asked Steve for his one, you know he has almost as many pictures of Grace as I do, anyway as I was looking at the pictures I found some of me sleeping. I showed Steve the pictures and he blushed, your SUPERSEAL blushed, I wish I took a picture of that, he explained why he had the pictures. It also explained why whenever I came here he would always make me charge my phone. I asked him why he never woke me but he told me Grace just wanted to make sure I was ok and that if I was sleeping to let me sleep she'd talk to me in the morning. Steve knew I would want to talk to her regardless of the time but Grace insisted he let me sleep. Did Steve tell you what happened that night?

Cath shook her head.

Well, after we found Grace; Rachel, Grace and I went to the hospital to get her checked out. The team dealt with everything. Steve came back here and I assume called you straight away. I knew they were all affected as well but I didn't realise just how much until, Steve told me a few days later. He was on the lanai talking to you with his back to the house. How long was he on the phone for?

Cath shrugged her shoulders.

"Er maybe half an hour?"

Yeah well so much for our SUPERSEAL, with all his training! Well when he turned around to come back into the house, Kono was there at the kitchen table cleaning his weapons, guns, knives, grenades and everything else he has, why would you clean a grenade? Anyway, Steve hadn't heard them come in. Chin was at the counter preparing a salad and other stuff to go with the pizza they brought over. Steve was so immersed in his talk with you that he didn't hear the other two in his home. They weren't trying to be quiet. None of them wanted to be alone. None of them were hungry, Chin continued to make stuff and Steve helped Kono clean the rest of his arsenal. Seriously, Chin cooks when he's stressed that I understand but the other two, cleaning weapons? Seriously I just can't get over that. It took the both of them a couple of hours to finish with the weapons by that time Chin had made several dishes! They were tired but didn't want to be alone. Kono got comfortable on the sofa and laid down, Chin and Steve each took a recliner and managed to doze off a bit with the TV on. Grace and I walked in about 2 am. We made sure Stan was ok. Grace hugged him and wished him well. Rachel asked me to keep Grace with me as she was going to stay with Stan and that she didn't want to keep Grace with her under those circumstances. Grace stayed with me for a week. We, the whole team, stayed here for that week. When we walked in here at 2 am, the TV was on and the three were asleep. I didn't even ask Grace if she wanted to come here or not I just brought her here. It was the right choice, when she realised where we were going she smiled. As soon as I set the alarm again I turned around to find Grace in Steve's lap sleeping. He woke up when he felt her climb onto his lap and he looked at me to ask if she was ok and I nodded and he went back to sleep with his arms around her and kissed her forehead. She snuggled into him. I went to sit on the sofa and lifted Kono's legs onto to my lap and I fell asleep. At some point I woke up I didn't check the time but when I looked at Steve Grace wasn't there I was about to start shouting when I heard a throat clear and I looked to see Chin looking at me then he looked to Kono, Grace was wrapped in her arms laying on the sofa with her. She must have moved at some point but I didn't realise. I knew I could trust the others to look out for Grace if I was too tired. I fell asleep again content that my Monkey was safe. The next time I woke up I saw Grace sleeping on Chin's lap this time. She was playing musical beds even though there was no music and it wasn't a game. She felt safe with the whole team. When I eventually woke up I found everyone else already up and about. Steve and Chin were in the kitchen getting the dinner stuff together from the previous night so we could eat it for breakfast. Kono was sitting on a chair with Grace in her lap. Over the next few days Grace would either sit on someone's lap while they were sitting or hold someone's hand. She didn't want to be left alone. We, Steve, Grace and I went to the hospital everyday so Grace could see her mum and Stan. She made a card for him every day and we baked cakes and cookies for him. He's got a really sweet tooth. He loved it all. Kono, Chin and Steve took it in turns to bake with Grace, she loved it. It continued after she went back home to Rachel and Stan, every time we would stay the weekend Steve, Kono or Chin would insist on baking something. Grace loved it in fact she still loves it. She's better much better now. Thanks to everyone's love and care. There was an incident a few months ago, I had to go to the hospital and Steve came with me, it wasn't serious but it was my weekend with Grace. One of the officers at the scene heard me say Grace was at her tennis lesson. The officer went to pick her up, he was trying to help but Grace wouldn't go with him. She won't go with anyone unless they give her the password. Anyway it took Kono about an hour to get to the club to collect her and when Grace realised the officer was a 'good' officer she apologised to him. He bent down to speak to her and told her she did the right thing. That if she had any doubts about anyone she should always stay with someone she trusts until someone she knows comes to get her. I'm just glad it's over Peterson can never hurt her again. It's strange, he was murdered in prison and when Steve told me I was shocked. What was more shocking was the fact that not one of the inmates saw anything.

"You know how it is, no one likes anyone hurting a kid and they probably heard what happened to Grace and they didn't take kindly to him." Cath suggested

"Yeah, I suppose. Don't get me wrong I don't condone what happened to him but if I could I wouldn't mind springing for some beers or something for the whole inmate population just so I knew the person who did it was thanked in a small way."

Danny said the last part while looking Cath in the eyes. Her gaze never wavered, Steve never said anything to her and she never asked but she knew what he was capable of and trained for. She was pretty sure even if Danny sprang for beers for everyone in the prison the person who deserved it wouldn't get one as he wasn't an inmate. He lived in this house! Danny kept on staring at her and she looked right back. A small smile appeared on Danny's face.

"Instead of buying beers for the prison population I have to make do with buying beers for the team as a thank you for their help with and care of Grace."

Now this time Cath had a smile on her face. They heard the door open and Steve came into the kitchen and went to get a drink from the fridge.

"What?" Steve asked as he saw Danno staring at him and Cath was avoiding his eyes.

"Nothing." Danno shrugged

"So what are you and my Monkey baking today?"

"I found this great recipe for a chocolate and coconut cake. It's going to be great!"

"Well at least it's not a chocolate and pineapple cake!"

"No, Gracie won't let any of us bake anything with pineapple in it as you won't touch it! She's _**so**_ stubborn about it and won't back down!"

Steve looked at the two adults opposite him who just burst out laughing. He could figure out what was so funny.

"Pot….." Danny started

"…Kettle… Steve!" Cath finished

Steve just stared at them and not amused at their teasing.


End file.
